Hello, well his is my first fan fiction, so please let me know how I can improve. I am from New Zealand so please forgive my spelling – we spell things a little differently here so I might get even the basics wrong on occasion (ie. We say mum you say mom, we write colour, in America color). Having being out of the country and without access to a t.v. for almost 19 months I missed all of the 3rd season and ½ of the 4th season so I am taking this from a couple of months after the 2nd season – a few weeks after House is back after the shooting. I hope you enjoy this.

Oh, don't own House MD – just taking them out to play – I swear :D the family are mine though…

"In an Instant"

Chapter One

At 8:23am he conference room in the Diagnostic Department was quiet. Chase had just arrived and was pouring his morning cup of coffee, while Forman was reading the latest medical journal article and Cameron was logging onto the computer to check emails. After the normal morning greetings all three were sitting down hoping that something interesting would come up so they would not have to spend too much time doing House's clinic hours.

The silence was broken a few minutes later by the ringing of a cell phone and Cameron jumping up to get her phone out of her bag.

"Good morning, Dr. Camer…" "Oh, hi Mom, I got your message yesterday, yes I was able to get 5 days off over Thanksgiving so you can put me down. How is everything at home?"

Being as bored as Forman and Chase were they took the opportunity to observe Cameron as she spoke on the phone. Forman was getting worried - it appeared that whatever her mother was saying was not good news.

Meanwhile on the phone Cameron's Mother was indeed informing her of bad news…

"Honey, there has been a car accident. Aunt Ashleigh and her family were driving to the cabin early this morning when they were hit - the other driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the medium."

"Who was in the car Mom?" Cameron asked nervously.

"All of them sweetie. Your Aunt; Uncle Bert; Isabella and Ryan, along with Alyssa. A nurse just called from the Chicago Hospital. They have been asking for us to come to the hospital… Are you able to be here Allison?"

"Yes Mom, I will be there as soon as possible – on the next available plane. I will go straight to the hospital ok. I will see you soon Mom."

Cameron didn't know what to think. Honestly she was hoping it was all a nightmare. She could not imagine what her Mom was going though; Aunt Ashleigh was her Mom's only sibling and her twin. She knew that the nurse would not have told her mother about the condition of her sister's family – that only lead to more car accidents as families drove to the hospital. When she was there she would be able to get a better idea of how her family was.

As Forman looked on he was still worried, after hanging up Cameron had continued to sit there in her own world. Forman got up and gently called out "Cameron" as he put his hand on her chair. "Would you like a ride home to pack a bag?"

"No, no it is ok, I have my car here. I don't want to leave it here while I am gone" Cameron said as her attention turned back to her computer as she browsed to find the next fight leaving to Chicago Airport.

Not giving up Forman said, "Ok, I will drive you home in your car, no excuses; I don't want you to get into a car accident as you drive home because you are thinking about your family. They have enough to worry about at the moment." Seeing that she was about to protest this he quickly stated, "When you have booked your ticket we will go. I will not take no for an answer."

Knowing what he said was true her attention went back to the computer. Finding the next flight out she booked a ticket. "The plane leaves at 10:45. I need to check-in at 10am, it will be pushing it but it is do-able." Getting up she packed up her computer bag, put the medical journal that had arrived for her that morning in her bag and got the print out of her ticket. As she walked to the door she asked "Chase, can you tell House that I will be gone for a little while. I will go down and talk to Cuddy now.

As Cameron and Forman walked down the corridor Forman heard Cameron say "I hope Dr. Cuddy is available at the moment, if not I will call her later."

They were in luck; they arrived just as a doctor left her office. Once Cuddy had heard what had happened she told Cameron to go, keep her updated and she would deal with House. 20 minutes later Forman was waiting for a taxi to take him back to the hospital (Cuddy had told him he was needed in cardiology until as case came up for the Diagnostic department) while Cameron was rushing to pack her bag as she needed to leave in the next 25 minutes (Forman had ordered her a taxi as well). She was looking forward to getting to the airport so she could try and relax – knowing that as soon as she arrived she would be on the go for a while.

A little after 10am Cameron found herself in line to check in. With nothing to do till she got to the head of the line she started thinking about Isabella – or Ella as she liked to be called – the last time she had seen her was a few months before her fellowship started at PPTH. Ella's daughter Alyssa was then about 7 – 8 months old and had just started crawling. It was sad to think that she was almost 3 years old now, she must be scared being in hospital, and depending on the injuries of her family she could be all alone there. She was a beautiful kid. She remembered a photo she had gotten months earlier from Ella. The photo was of Aunt Ashleigh, Ella and Alyssa. Other than age the only real difference was the eyes. Cameron took after both her Mom and Aunt (being identical twins) you couldn't see her father in her at all. While Ella looked alot like the two, the only difference being her green eyes which she got from her father. Alyssa looked just like her Grandma, the eyes and everything, but it looked like she would inherit her father's height (the lucky girl). Her thoughts continued to remain on her family and she soon found herself at the head of the check-in line before walking down to the terminal. The plane would be boarding in about 10 minutes, she needed to rush.